Blind Trust
by AlecGateway
Summary: She heard the cracking sound as whoever had attacked her stomped down on her glasses, completely ruining them... Pidge knew why she hated glasses. It wasn't like she had to be scared though, she blindly trusted her friends, so she knew she would be okay.


**Blind Trust**

* * *

Pidge was annoyed. They had just freed another planet from Zarkon's reign and she was tired. All she had wanted to do when they returned their lions to the castle's hangar was sleep, but of course she would not be that lucky. The friendly residents of the planet of Lýhcrim had insisted they join them in their celebration of newly gained freedom so they may have the chance to each properly thank their saviours. Pidge knew all five Paladins of Voltron really didn't feel much up to it, but Allura – being the formal princess that she had been raised to be – had gladly accepted the offer.

Pidge forced another smile as she shook the hand of another Lýh who thanked her for assisting their planet. It seemed the Lýh don't very fond of being able to each express their gratefulness for themselves instead of letting a leader speak for all of them. Which meant more hands to shake for Pidge, more praise to be showered with and less chances of peace for the thirteen-year-old. Peace – the one thing they don't out here to fight for, one thing no one should ever need to fight for, especially not a young girl such as her. But then again, was she even a young girl anymore? To her it felt like more and more people kept forgetting who she really was. She wasn't just the Green Paladin, she was also a human girl that lost half her family, entangled in an unbelievabe adventure in space, thousands and tousands of lightyears away from her home. It was not like she had another choice though. So here she was, trying her best to fulfill everyone's expectations of a true defender of the universe.

"Thank you again, Green Paladin. We are forever in your debt."

Pidge flashed a polite smile, nodding and welcoming the break after the alien turned away from her to seek out the others. She hurried to reach a peaceful spot within the ballroom, thankful the Lýh had apparently never heard of the word "dress" – she wouldn't have been able to move in between all these people as comfortably as she did otherwise. Arriving at a long buffet table on the right side of the room, Pidge helped herself to something to eat. She decided on some almost familiar looking berries, that tasted something akin to strawberies but sweeter. If she thought her break wouldlast though, she was wrong. A tall man with blazing orange hair and eyes was approaching her from the side and Pidge tried to pretend she didn't see him coming.

"There he is!" he exclaimed in a seemingly cheery tone, but Pidge took notice of a strange undertone peeking through the few words. "The fifth Paldin, pilot of the Green Lion!"

Pidge turned to him with a careful expression, not quite smiling, raising her eyebrows. Apparently this Lýh believed her to be a guy. Well, she couldn't blame him – she had pretended to be a boy for almost a year, after all. Didn't mean she would not correct him.

"That's me, yes," she confirmed. "It's she though."

She nearly didn't see the change as his expression suddenly turned dark.

"...she?"

Pidge frowned. What was wrong with this guy?

"Um, yeah. I'm a... girl."

"That must be a mistake then," he concluded, sounding so sure of himself that Pidge had the strong urge to slap him. "But do not worry. A new candidate for shall be found quickly."

Pidge scoffed. Who did this stuck up alien think he was? Judging her by her gender and wanting to replace her as a Paladin of Voltron? Oh no, she didn't think so.

"Excuse me? Are you saying I'm not fit to pilot my lion because-"

"You are a girl, yes. Only the male of any species are to participate in any war or other activities that include fighting," he explained, raising an eyebrow at her as though to dare her to disagree.

And oh did she dare. Pidge smiled sweetly at him, a smile that obviously seemed to please him.

"I'm terribly afraid I must disagree, Sir," she started and he already looked like he didn't like that smile so much anymore. "Have you ever fought against a legion of Zarkon's troops single-handedly?" She didn't wait for him to answer. "Have you ever flown a magical lion-shaped space ship through a storm of lasers from a an evil alien mothership? Don't youever stranded in the middle of nowhere, floating in space, all alone, without help and found a way to get back to where you belong? Do you have any idea at all what I have done? Do you know what I am capable of?" He opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off. "No, you don't. So don't you dare going around saying I would not be worth being the Green Paladin because of my damn gender!"

A hand appeared on his shoulder and Pidge noticed a similarly build man with bright blue hair and eyes standing behind sexist-guy, looking apologetic.

"Talim," he adressed sexist-guy. "Please leave. And do not bother any of our guests again."

Talim shot a last glare at Pidge and turned around, grumbling under his breath all the while as he left. Pidge studied the blue-haired Lýh in front of her suspisciously. Even though she knew Talim most likely was an exception, there was a chance this guy might have similiar views to him and if he did, she certainly didn't want to have anything to do with him. He bowed his head at her and smiled somewhat sadly.

"Please excuse my nephew, we are still trying to teach him correct morals. My name is Liam. I am a close friend of King Altair."

Pidge returned a friendly smile to show that she understood, even though in truth she didn't quite get how anyone could have such morals.

"Pleasure to meet you, Liam," she replied.

"The pleasure is my, young Paladin. Say, may I ask how old you are? You do look quite young."

So first her gender, now her age? She swore if this guy made one negative comment-

"I am fourteen earth years old."

"Indeed very young then, impressive."

Pidhe hummed. She caught sight of Keith somwhere behind Liam looking even worse trying to handle all this social interaction than she was. She supressed the urge to laugh at his misery.

"Uh, thanks I guess."

Liam opened his mouth to say something, but he didn't get the chance to do so as shouts and gunshots rang out throughout the ballroom. Too fast for her to react properly, Liam was tackled to the side, sending Pidge stumbling backwards and painfully crashing into the buffet table. A short gasp escaped her as her back made contact with the hard edge made of a foreign metal. As she worked on picking herself up again she realized that all she could see were bright blurs, moving so much it made her head hurt. She might as well have been blind. Her glasses must have fallen off when she fell and now there was little chance she would find them again. But she knew she stood no chance in this chaotic situation without them, so despite knowing it might be hopeless, she fell to her knees and began searching.

Right when Pidge thought she had actually found her glasses, she was pushed to the side. She heard the cracking sound as whoever had attacked her stomped down on her glasses, completely ruining them. Pidge hated that she couldn't do anything to get away as a strong hand grabbed her arm and pulled her up, holding her in place no mater how much she struggled. An arm secured her around the neck and Pidge froze as soon as she felt the presure of old metal directly against the side of her head.

"Hey!" her attacker bellowed, confirming for Pidge that it was a male. "No one moves or she gets it!"

The plan proved successful as the room suddenly went still. Pidge heard a couple of gasps and her friends calling out her name, but she couldn't tell where exactly they were, didn't know if they were save, if they were close enough to help her.

"Pidge!" That was Shiro's voice. "Stay calm, okay?"

She didn't dare move and give him a nod. She was confident he knew she had heard him.

"Stay exactly where you are," her attacker commanded, telling Pidge that Shiro had probably tried to come closer. "If all goes well, we won't need to kill anyone today."

A shuffling sound, murmuring from all around her. Pidge so desperately wished she could see something. After a short moment, a powerful male voice that Pidge identified as King Altair's voice rang out.

"Please, let the girl go," He spoke with a calmness that spread throughout the whole room, silencing the low mumbling of any Lýh. "We can sort this out like men."

Her attacker laughed, but it sounded cold and dark – not at all what a laugh should sound like.

"You almost make it sound like you would actually talk if I did." He laughed again, cutting it off abrubtly and tightening his grip on her neck. "But this time I'm talking." He paused, letting his words reach every being in the room. "Before our planet was taken over by Zarkon, I had nothing. My people were miserable under your father's reign. Too many died, whether of hunger or disease is of no matter. Zarkon gave me the chance to change this, gave us all hope. We may not have freedom, but we live. Giving back our loyalty to our new leader is the last we can do. And I will not stand by and watch as everything goes back to how it was!"

"Lunas, please, you don't have to do this," Altair pleaded.

Pidge realized the King must have known this man beforehand, since he had used his name without him having introduced himself. A long time passed by without an answer coming from Lunas and Pidge hated that she couldn't see what was going on. Lunas sighed and the pressure on the side of her head disappeared. Pidge let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Yet the grip on her didn't let up.

"I guess you're right, _Your Majesty_ ," he spat the last two words like an insult and without warning, Pidge was pushed to the ground once more.

"Pidge, no!" It was Shiro again, calling out for her desparately. "Let her go!" he demanded angrily, but to no avail.

She caught herself with her arms, landing on her knees. Lunas janked her back so she sat straight and held her in that position with his left hand on her shoulder. His grip was too hard and Pidge closed her eyes in pain. Lýh were much stronger than humans and she guessed Lunas didn't even know he was using too much force.

"Since talking doesn't seem to convince any of you of how serious I am," Her heart was beating so fast she feared it would jump out of her ribcage. "How about I give you a little demonstration of what will happen to all of you if you won't do as I say."

Agitated murmuring and fearful gasps reached her ears and Pidge suenly knew exactly what she should be afraid of, too. Seconds later, the room erupted into chaos for the second time. Pidge heard the sound of the gunshot so close it made her ears ring. Her eyes shot open and she saw two black blurs moving past her. She scrambled backwards, her arms trembling underneath her. She didn't know if this was the right direction to go, couldn't see where here friends were or who her enemies were. A third blur appeared and Pidge only saw one of them falling to the ground before one of the black ones came back in her direction. Her attacker was coming back, she had to get away!

The figure came closer and then crouched down in front of her, reaching out with one hand. Pidge inched away in a desperate attempt to flee, but her forearms were grabbed. The grip was surprisingly gentle and Pidge froze as she heard the figure's voice.

"Hey, it's alright. It's me, Pidge, it's Shiro."

She looked up at where she thought his face was.

"Shiro," she breathed and she didn't protest when he pulled her close to him.

"You're safe now, Katie," he assured, probably more for himself than for her. "Let's get out of here."

He helped her up and she gratefull held onto him. They moved through frightened Lýh and fights which Shiro shielded her from, maneuvering them both out of the room. He assured her that the others had it under control and that they had gotten backup from the King's troops that had arrived shortly after the situation had escalated. They walked for a while, Pidge not knowing where they were going but too frustrated to ask.

"I'm sorry."

Shiro stopped in his tracks. Pidge couldn't see his expression but she was sure he was frowning down at her.

"For what?"

She sighed, running a hand thorugh her hair.

"If I had paid more attention I would've seen him coming and I wouldn't have lost my stupid glasses and then none of this would've happened."

Shiro took her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"Pidge, look at me."

She snorted.

"You do know I can't even see your face, right?" she reminded him, raising a brow at him.

He chuckled, obviously embarrassed to have forgotten about that tiny fact.

"Right. Anyway, none if this was your fault. You need to stop blaming everything on yourself everytime something doesn't work out as planned."

She shook her head and turned back towards wherethey had been going.

"Nevermind. Can we go to the castle? I think I might have some spare glasses that I might some time ago somewhere," she asked, making it clear that she wasn't in the mood to continue the conversation.

"Of course," he replied, then after a moment, he hesitantly spoke up again. "Hey Pidge?"

She hummed and he continued.

"I've been meaning to ask... those glasses, were they your brother's?"

She noticed how careful he was dipping into this subject, knowing it was a sore one for her.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I used to hate glasses so I wore contacts. But after- when I started going by Pidge Gunderson I thought I might as well start wearing glasses."

He didn't say anything after that, leaving Pidge alone to her thoughts, wishing she had used the chance to share them with Shiro.

* * *

 **I do not own Voltron Legenary Defender or any of its characters.**

 _ **Hello guys! I finally got this done! My first Voltron one-shot and it's absolutely weird but who cares? XD**_

 _ **Please review and tell me if you liked it and would like to see more Voltron one-shots! Maybe give me some ideas, too?**_

 **Alec :)**


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